The stall owners heard this and all backed away, keeping their distance as if Yang Yi were carrying the plague.
Who would dare offend Divine Doctor Xu?
If that old man just said the word, some of them would be blacklisted.
Many of them depended on these stalls to support their families.
Hong Juntao’s gaze was cold and arrogant as he looked down on Yang Yi with a condescending air.
“You, Yang, do you see the consequences of crossing me now?”
Yang Yi glanced at him.
“Even so, doesn’t that still make you a worthless fool?”
SWISH!
Hong Juntao’s face turned incredibly ugly.
His eyes were like two sharp blades that wanted to slice Yang Yi into a thousand pieces.
A few stall owners, likely trying to curry favor with Hong Juntao, joined in on insulting Yang Yi.
“This reckless brat dares to be so disrespectful to Young Master Hong.
Is there something wrong with his head?”
“Get lost!
You’re not welcome at this market!”
“Everyone, get a good look!
If this kid ever comes back, don’t sell him anything!”
“Like hell he’ll be back!
If we see him coming, we should just stop him at the entrance!”
Some of the onlookers also showed mocking smiles, enjoying the show.
Seeing people take his side against Yang Yi, Hong Juntao’s expression instantly improved.
Yang Yi couldn’t be bothered to stoop to this worthless fool’s level and continued to browse the stalls one by one.
“Stop browsing.
Without my permission, no one will dare sell to you!”
“If you want to buy something, get on your knees and beg me.
Maybe I’ll be merciful and let you off the hook!”
Seeing Yang Yi ignore him, Hong Juntao seethed with anger.
He wouldn’t rest until he had crushed Yang Yi’s dignity under his foot.
Yang Yi stopped in front of a stall, pointed to a shriveled old ginseng root, and asked, “How much for this?”
The stall owner was a young man in his twenties.
He waved his hand dismissively, his tone hostile.
“Not for sale!”
Yang Yi said coolly, “I’ll raise the price.
Ten thousand.”
The stall owner was stunned.
He was tempted, but after glancing at Hong Juntao’s warning expression, he had to give up.
“Not for sale!”
Yang Yi raised the price again.
“Fifty thousand.”
The stall owner’s eyes widened.
This old, dried ginseng was worth five hundred at most.
A price of fifty thousand was a hundred times that!
His eyes were bloodshot; he was clearly very tempted.
Just then, Hong Juntao let out a strange laugh.
“Hey, owner, ask him if he’ll buy it for a hundred thousand.
If he will, I’ll allow you to sell it to him.”
The stall owner’s face lit up with joy when he heard this.
“One hundred thousand!
If you pay one hundred thousand, I’ll sell it to you!”
‘If I make this sale, I won’t have to set up my stall for a whole month.’
Hong Juntao deliberately provoked Yang Yi.
“Go on, kid, buy it.
What’s the matter?
Don’t have the money, or can’t bear to part with it?”
“I, Hong Juntao, won’t stop people from making money.
As long as you’re willing to pay a hundred times the price, I definitely won’t stand in the way.”
The other stall owners heard this and all stared at Yang Yi with greedy eyes.
Yang Yi directly pulled out a bank card.
His senior sister had given it to him, saying it had a few hundred million in it for him to spend as he pleased.
“One hundred thousand it is.
Ring it up.”
The stall owner’s hands trembled with excitement.
He borrowed a card machine from someone and charged the hundred thousand.
Hong Juntao sneered, “Tsk, tsk.
Don’t tell me you just spent years of savings just to prove a point against me?”
“Look at you.
No money, no skills, but so obsessed with saving face.
What’s the point?”
“You spent a hundred thousand on a worthless, dried-up old root.”
Yang Yi laughed.
“I called you a worthless fool, and you still won’t admit it?
You can’t even recognize a Celestial Ginseng this precious, yet you claim to be from a long line of traditional medicine practitioners?”
Hong Juntao froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
“Did you guys hear that?
He said this thing is a precious Celestial Ginseng!”
“Hahaha, that’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all year!”
“Oh, Yang Yi, Yang Yi, who here can’t tell a valuable herb from a worthless one?
You just wasted your money and are trying to save a little face!”
“It’s okay, I understand.
Everyone here understands!”
The other stall owners were all trying to hold back their laughter, looking at Yang Yi as if he were a joke.
The stall owner who had sold the ginseng to Yang Yi said disdainfully, “Dumbass, I’m the one who sold it.
Who knows its value better than me?”
“Trying to grandstand right in front of me?
Kid, are you sure you’re all there in the head?”
“This piece of junk is worth five hundred, tops!
But coming from you, it’s suddenly a priceless Celestial Ginseng.
If you’re going to bullshit, at least do it when I’m not around!”
Hearing this, the other stall owners also showed scornful expressions.
“What a grandstanding clown!”
“Look at him, still so calm.
He’s got some thick skin, that’s for sure!”
Yang Yi ignored their taunts and turned to the young stall owner.
“I think your parents are going to beat you to death when you get home.”
The young stall owner scoffed, “You’re full of shit!”
Just as he spoke, a panicked-looking middle-aged man squeezed through the crowd.
The young stall owner cried out in surprise, “Dad, what are you doing here?”
The middle-aged man ignored him and began frantically rummaging through the pile of ginseng, but he couldn’t find what he was looking for.
He shot his head up and asked, “Wasn’t there a shriveled, dead-looking ginseng root in here?
About fifteen centimeters long!”
Yang Yi said calmly, “Are you looking for this?”
He showed the dried ginseng in his hand to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man said excitedly, “Yes, yes, that’s it…”
Yang Yi closed his hand around it and smiled.
“Your son already sold it to me.”
The middle-aged man froze on the spot, as if he had been struck by lightning.
“H-how much did he sell it to you for?
I’ll buy it back for ten times the price!”
Yang Yi shook his head.
“I paid a hundred thousand, but I don’t plan on selling it.”
The middle-aged man’s breath caught in his throat, and he almost fainted.
The young stall owner said indignantly, “Dad, isn’t that just a useless old piece of dried ginseng?
We have plenty of those at home!”
SLAP!
The middle-aged man turned and slapped the young stall owner hard across the face.
“You idiot!
This is a top-grade Celestial Ginseng!
Two hundred years old!
It could fetch a high price of thirty million at auction!”
“You prodigal son, you sold it for a mere hundred thousand!
I could just beat you to death right now!”
The young stall owner was stunned by the slap and began to tremble uncontrollably.
‘Th-thirty million?!’ He almost fainted from shock.
An uproar swept through the crowd.
All the onlookers were completely shocked, their eyes wide as saucers.
What the hell?
That thing that looked like an expired herb was worth thirty million?!
Hong Juntao’s face changed drastically.
He stared intently at the dried ginseng in Yang Yi’s hand, a single word roaring in his mind: ‘Impossible!’
“Young man, my name is Zhou Guangzhi.
My disobedient son doesn’t know the value of things, which is why he mistakenly sold this…”
But Yang Yi just shook his head.
“Sorry, I happen to have a use for this Celestial Ginseng, so I can’t give it back to you.”
Hearing this, Zhou Guangzhi’s face filled with bitterness.
He stammered, “I’ll offer ten million…”
This Zhou Guangzhi seemed to be a decent person, but unfortunately, Yang Yi needed this exact Celestial Ginseng to cure Su Nanzhi’s poison.
So, he could only refuse.
Zhou Guangzhi’s face turned ashen.
He turned and glared viciously at his son, who trembled in fear.
As for Yang Yi, he turned to look at Hong Juntao, a mocking expression on his face.